Labyrinth II
by Miaka
Summary: It has been three years. Toby is a toddler now, even more hard to handle than he was. One night, Sarah is again asked to babysit. Although she handles it more maturely, Toby still manages to get on her nerves. ...Will Sarah say the words?


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Disclaimer: I don't own any Labyrinth characters ***or*** the storyline! Bwa ha ha. Yooou can't suuuue me! 

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It had been three long tiresome years since the girl had set foot in the mysterious Underground.

Sarah tapped her ballpoint pen absentmindedly against the mahogany wooden desk. There were a few, off-white colored sheets of paper lying on the desk. They were almost calling out to Sarah, begging her to express whatever thoughts of imagination were presently traveling across her youthful brain.

Sarah put the pen down and sat back in her chair, lazily. She closed her eyes. No ideas would come. Oh, how she hated writer's block with a deep passion. 

It was Friday, ten o'clock A.M. and she was quietly working on a Literature assignment during Study Hall. All the seniors of Willow Brooke High were required to write a novel at the end of the year for their Literature class. Sarah didn't mind so much. She had begun to enjoy using her free time for writing. She didn't find acting appealing, anymore. Not since.. No. She refused to think about it. It had all been a dream, hadn't it?

The bell rung unexpectedly and Sarah's head rose up with surprise. She took the pieces of paper that had yet to be used and shoved them inside a notebook. She rose out of her seat and immediately left the library.

By the end of that school day, Sarah had written about five paragraphs of her novel; however, also by the end of that school day, Sarah wasn't satisfied with what she had written. On the way out of the school building, she crumpled up her paper and abandoned it in a nearby trash can that had been empty except for a few cigarette butts.

Sarah usually walked when she needed to use transportation. Her car had recently broken down and she did not have the money to fix it or buy a new one; therefore she had to wait until she earned enough from allowance and her work at the deli store downtown.

So as Sarah was walking home, she passed by the park she had been fantasizing her favorite fairy tail, the Labyrinth, in. She paused to glance inside the park. Although it had been three years ago, Sarah felt as if it was only the day prior where she had gone through that realistic experience. She was so sure that it had all been a dream. Even the reunion with her labyrinth friends afterwards.. it had all been an illusion. Nothing more.

By the time she reached her lovely Victorian home, the air about her was thicker and she could feel the presence of an impending rain. She looked up. Indeed, the clouds were already darkening and she was grateful that she had reached home in time. When she entered, she heard a friendly bark from Merlin, greeting her. Merlin raced from wherever he had been napping and brushed against Sarah affectionately. She reached down and gave him a good brush behind the ears. Merlin backed away, giving her the chance to put her jacket aside. Sarah reached the stairs and walked with easiness to her room.

Sarah fell back onto her bed tiredly and subconsciously began to doze off. She was so tuckered out from that long day of school, but mostly from trying to brainstorm ideas for her novel. She felt guilty about letting what she had come up with earlier go to waste. 'No time to look back, Sarah..' she thought faintly. Sarah fell asleep.

Karen leans over Sarah's bed, worried about her stepdaughter. 

"….Sarah?" she says calmly, placing a hand on the girl's forehead. 

Sarah opens her bright eyes and pulls away from Karen's touch. "Oh..!" she mumbles, when her vision clears from a blur. Karen smiles and steps back a bit.

"Sorry to wake you, but.. Well, your father and I are going out tonight.. We were hoping that you wouldn't mind ba-.."

"I don't mind," Sarah interrupted. She pulled a nearby pillow close to her stomach and nearly leaned over it.

"All right!" Karen shifted uncomfortably and patted her hands together as if she had just finished some type of difficult task. She gave Sarah a smile and was surprised when Sarah smiled back. 

Karen was making her way toward the door of Sarah's room, when she paused to say, "We'll be back by midnight." She hadn't turned around, and afterwards, she finished strolling through the door. Sarah rolled her eyes and released the tight grip she had on the pillow. Toby didn't cry like he used to. He was a toddler now. He had more trouble to cause than headaches.

Luckily, Toby had spent the first two hours of that night sleeping. Sarah was appreciative, especially because she had found the time to come up with plenty of ideas. Sarah had written about five pages of her new novel idea.

The clock stroke 8:00 P.M. Sarah glanced around the living room. Merlin was cuddled up against a pile of pillows on the floor near the couch Sarah was now sprawled over in a comfortable, relaxing position. It was time for a break. Sarah sprinted into the kitchen, eager to swallow some delicious tea. As she was preparing for a little snack, Toby was meanwhile just waking up.

Sarah neglected the thundering rain pounding outside and brought her teacup to her lips. She quickly pulled back, however, when she realized the drink was too hot yet to drink. She set it on the counter and sighed with a knowing smile. There was a sudden, high pitched giggle coming from the living room that made Sarah shudder. She quickly turned and stormed out of the kitchen. 

When she reached the living room, she found Merlin cowering behind a recliner chair and Toby, making confetti out of her novel draft. "Toby!" Sarah scowled, rushing over to stop him from continuing. But Sarah frowned when she realized there wasn't much left of her papers that he could tear, anyway. She made a frustrating screaming noise, similar to the one she had made when she was first beginning to explore the labyrinth. This frightened Toby and he stopped his laughter.

"Aha! You stopped laughing because you know you're in trouble, don't you?"

"Sawa.. I wan.. to wash tevesion!" Toby murmured. Sarah nearly twitched at his speech impediment and picked up the toddler. She ran with him to his room and carelessly set him down.

"Now.. Do you realize what you've done!? Don't you know how hard I was working on those papers?! How DARE you rip them up!" Sarah said angrily. Toby's lower lip quivered and he soon began to wail with tears. 

"Be quiet!" Sarah covered her ears. But her demand did not stop Toby from bawling his normally curious looking eyes out. Sarah picked him up again, but he was wriggling around in all directions. And once he even kicked into her stomach, which made her yell at him even more. She grabbed the blankets on his bed, pulled them back, and forced him into the bed. 

"Go to sleep.. And for crying out loud, STOP crying!" she said. Toby paused for a minute to look at his sister as she began to leave the room. She glanced back at him sympathetically, but still angry with him for tearing up her novel. As soon as Sarah closed the door behind her, Toby began crying again. 

Sarah rushed into her room and slammed the door behind her. A headache was beginning to form on her delicate mind, again. She had enough stress for one day. If only she could just sleep to get away from it all. The bed was made. Sarah looked at it longingly. It almost invited her to dream away and forget about the bad day she was having. So Sarah took the invitation and went to sleep..

_"Goblin king, goblin king, wherever you may be! Take this child of mine far away from me!" A flash of lightning shone through the window and lit up the room of Sarah's parents. Sarah whimpered and brought Toby down from the upward position she had been holding him in. He was still crying._

"Oh, STOP it!" she pleaded. The baby could not understand her, and Sarah had a feeling that even if he did, it would still cry as loudly as it did now. She put Toby in his crib and pulled up his covers close to his chin. She hurried to the door and rested a hand on the light switch.

Sarah remembered turning back so quickly. She remembered saying the words and the silence she heard soon afterwards. It had been so perturbing.

The memory- no.. vision, faded. A new and more recent one was appearing..

"Go to sleep.. And for crying out loud, STOP crying!" she said. Toby paused for a minute to look at his sister as she began to leave the room. She glanced back at him sympathetically, but still angry with him for tearing up her novel. Sarah paused at the light switch. The light switch seemed to be all that she could focus on.

And then, something unexpected happened. Something that hadn't actually occurrred. She said them! She said the words.

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away…"

"Right now!" Sarah screamed, rising up from her bed. She shuddered from the alien coolness around her. 

"What..What've I done?" she asked herself, bringing a hand to cover her mouth. She pushed aside the covers as quickly as she could manage, and heaved herself out of the bed. She lunged forward toward the door and sprinted through the hall down to Toby's room. 

The lights were on, as she had left them. Sarah sighed with relief and turned around. But she couldn't help but feel nervous. She shifted to face Toby's room again. Her eyes drifted over to his bed. She began walking towards it. Closer and closer. She felt as if her heart was beating faster than the thunder, crashing outside. She reached for the covers and closed her eyes. 'No,' she thought, opening her eyes, 'I can do this. It.. didn't.. really.. happen!' Sarah threw back the blankets.

Toby was gone.


End file.
